The UCLA Bruins went down in the Sweet 16 round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament thanks to the Kentucky Wildcats. UK starting guard De’Aaron Fox dominated the night scoring 39 points, a freshman NCAA Tournament record. On the opposite side of the floor, Fox’s matchup Lonzo Ball struggled for the most part. He scored only 10 points on 4-10 shooting, but he did have eight assists.
But Ball’s relatively lackluster performance didn’t discourage him from confirming a declaration following the contest. His father said earlier in the season that all three of his boys – Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo – would be ‘one and done’ at UCLA. Lonzo confirmed as much after the game.
Ball is one of the most highly touted prospects in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft. League executives have stated that the recent outlandish comments from Ball’s father LaVar would not affect his draft stock at all. LaVar Ball also came out and said his boys would only play for the Lakers, a team positioning themselves to keep their top three pick. He’s mostly a consensus second overall pick behind Washington point guard Markelle Fultz.
Now the only question that remains is which teams will land in the top three. Many teams are openly tanking, and Ball could be the second best reward for their tanking efforts.
